Gorakhpur Atomic Power Plant
Farmers’ opposition dies a natural death
Fatehabad, August 27
Decks have almost been cleared for the setting up of the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Plant (GAPP) in Fatehabad, as far as opposition from farmers is concerned.

80% girls examined at college have poor dental health
Sirsa, August 27
In a shocking revelation that points towards lack of awareness on dental hygiene among younger generations, nearly 80 per cent of girls examined for dental problems in a Sirsa college were found suffering from dental caries — a disease of decaying of teeth.

Dr Saanvi Sihag, a dental surgeon from Sirsa, addresses girls at Government National PG College at
Sirsa. A Tribune photograph

No substitute for hard work, says Dronacharya awardee
Gurgaon, August 27
Sunil Dabas, Haryana’s first and India’s fourth woman coach selected for the coveted Dronacharya Award, has warned the young and upcoming players against getting lured by the temptation of using prohibited drugs to get undue advantage in their sports competitions.

Telecalling centre cell set up by Hisar police
Hisar, August 27
The district police has established a ‘police telecalling centre cell’ at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) here, to provide an interface to complainants sending their grievances to the office.

Policewomen manning the Telecalling Centre established at the office of the Superintendent of Police at Hisar. A Tribune photograph

Rare jaw surgery performed
Rohtak, August 26
Doctors of the Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences (PGIDS) here have successfully removed jaw tumour of a young patient after a 7-hour long surgery.

College organises ‘yajna’ for new session
Yamunanagar, August 27
The local DAV College for Girls inaugurated the new academic session by organising a 21 ‘kundia havan’ in which Pandit Dev Vrat Acharya from Kurukshetra performed the yajna for the success and well being of the new students.

Joys of childhoodChildren cover themselves under umbrellas while it drizzled in Karnal. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Sirsa institute holds talent-hunt contest
Sirsa, August 27
The Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal (JCD) Institute of Business Management recently organised a talent hunt competition on the campus of JCD Vidyapeeth to explore the hidden talent among its students pursuing BBA and MBA courses.

New computerised enquiry office at KU
Kurukshetra, August 27
A new computerised enquiry office was inaugurated by Lt-Gen (Dr) DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, on the university campus here.

Docs should have a ‘serving’ attitude
Sonepat, August 27
Medical profession is an area of social service and it is imperative for doctors to have a serving attitude while discharging their duties. In the eyes of a patient, a doctor is like an angel and doctors should not forget it.

DAV secretary
Hisar, August 27
Ramesh Leekha, member of the Pharmacy Council of India and a senior vice-president of the local Arya Samaj, has been appointed secretary of All-India DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi.

Panel discusses ‘revised vision’ of Kurukshetra University
Kurukshetra, August 27
A meeting of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Kurukshetra University was held under the chairmanship of Lt-Gen (Dr) DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, in the university committee room, here recently.

Wakf board earnings up by 31 per cent
Ambala, August 27
The Haryana Wakf Board (HWB) has registered an all-time high income of Rs 22.44 crore during the revenue year 2011-12, which is Rs 5.30 crore (31 per cent) more than the income of the previous year.

CompanionshipA couple takes a ride on a rainy day in Karnal. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Bhoomi poojan of research centre at Kurukshetra varsity
Kurukshetra, August 27
Lieut-Gen DDS Sandhu (retd), Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, performed the bhoomi poojan of a world-class research centre for an ‘ion-induced growth and engineering of materials project’, worth Rs 9 crore, on the university’s campus here recently.

Sonepat boy is State Junior Badminton Champion
Jhajjar, August 27
Sourabh Sharma of Sonepat clinched the title of State Junior Badminton Champion by defeating Kartik of Panchkula in a close match of Haryana State Junior Badminton Championship at Jahan Aara Stadium here on Sunday.

Blood donation camp in Sonepat
Sonepat, August 27
As many as 277 units of blood were donated by police personnel and other volunteers in a blood donation camp organised jointly by the Sonepat police and the District Red Cross Society here in the Police Lines on Monday.

Lawyer takes ‘reverse’ journey
Fatehabad, August 27
Jaibir Singh Virk, a lawyer from Tohana town in Fatehabad, recently completed a reverse drive journey of 273 km on a tractor to enter his name in the Limca Book of Records. Virk started from Nehru Market, Tohana, at 4.30 pm on August 25, where District Congress.DCC chief Randhir Singh flags off Jabir Singh Virk’s ‘reverse’ journey on tractor at
Tohana.

Govt launches weather-based crop insurance scheme
Chandigarh, August 27
The Haryana Government has implemented a Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) in 18 blocks of 17 districts of the state for 2012-13. The scheme covers both Kharif and Rabi crops like wheat, paddy, bajra and cotton.

Sirsa homemaker puts culinary skills to good use
Sirsa, August 27
In the present era of knowledge, a person having skills can make a good living in the area of his or her specialisation without considering the field in which he has acquired academic degrees.

Puja Bansal teaching culinary techniques to girls in MHD College for Women at
Odhan in Sirsa. A Tribune photograph

Blood donation camp at Kalka
Kalka, August 27
As many as 125 units of blood were collected in a blood donation camp organised jointly by Rotary Club,
Pinjore, and Government Postgraduate College, Kalka, on the college premises.

Information Commissioners making a mockery of RTI Act
Panipat, August 27
An RTI activist, who has been denied information about a case from the Sonepat Police, has accused the Information Commissioner of suppressing flow of information under the provisions of the RTI Act and reversing the judgments of former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) G Madhwan.

Planetarium at Kurukshetra non-functional; visitors upset
Kurukshetra, August 27
The projector at a planetarium, set up in Kurukshetra in the memory of the first Indian woman astronaut, Dr Kalpana Chawla, is not working for some time. The officials working here had sent an application to higher authorities in Panchkula, but no action has been taken as yet.

Fatehabad, August 27
Decks have almost been cleared for the setting up of the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Plant (GAPP) in Fatehabad, as far as opposition from farmers is concerned.

Out of the 1,503-odd acres of agriculture land acquired for the upcoming nuke plant in Gorakhpur, owners of 1,344 acres have already collected their cheques as compensation. This includes compensation for 1,219 acres in Gorakhpur village alone, where the authorities had acquired over 1,313 acres of land.

Most of the farmers opposing acquisition belong to Gorakhpur village. Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, who represents Fatehabad in Haryana Assembly, claimed that owners of more than 95 per cent of the land are likely to get their money within the next 2-3 days.

The achievement is remarkable in view of the fact that a section of the farmers has been agitating against acquisition of land for the past two years and the manner in which farmers responded meekly to the award of compensation announced on July 18 this year.

Gillankhera said that once completed, the GAPP would start producing 2,800 MW of power, which would lessen power woes in Haryana to a large extent. However, the work on the project is unlikely to begin in the next two or three months.

“We will wait for the harvesting of kharif crops. Cotton and paddy crops are standing tall on the fields,” said Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik.

Before work on the project begins, we will conduct different surveys to decide compensation for trees, structures, tube-wells and dhanis to farmers, he added.

Harvesting of kharif crop begins in October end or the start of November and continues for over a month.

Although some farmers have been still opposing the acquisition, it is unlikely to affect the government’s plans in view of their miniscule numbers.

However, it is yet to be seen how the Opposition parties, who have been opposing the proposed project, will react, when the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) begins actual work on the project.

While Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress has limited its opposition to the …… plant by restricting it to the only to the farmers’ agitation, the Indian National Lok Dal Supremo Om Parkash Chautala has went a step further by announcing that his party would not allow the project to come up at any cost.

Describing the nuclear power plant as hazarduous, Chautala had recently announced in a rally in Gorakhpur that his party would not allow any work on the project.

Sirsa, August 27
In a shocking revelation that points towards lack of awareness on dental hygiene among younger generations, nearly 80 per cent of girls examined for dental problems in a Sirsa college were found suffering from dental caries — a disease of decaying of teeth.

More than 30 per cent of the girls suffer from pyorrhea -- purulent inflammation of gum and tooth sockets.

Nearly 50 per cent of the girls suffer from malocclusion -- crowding of teeth or abnormal alignment of teeth.

Dr Abhishek Sihag and his wife, Dr Saanvi Sihag, examined teeth of nearly 400 girls in the women’s wing of Government National Postgraduate College at Sirsa recently.

“Lack of awareness among the youth on oral hygiene is the biggest reason behind high prevalence of tooth decay and pyorrhea,” said Dr Saanvi Sihag after the dental check-up camp in the college.

Dr Abhishek Sihag added that a shift in the eating habits among the youth, who normally took fast food at short intervals without caring to clean their teeth, was the reason behind the prevalence of dental caries and pyorrhea among college students.

Dr Saanvi gave an interesting explanation of the increasing incidents of crowding of teeth among children where tooth come out in a zigzag manner leading to their abnormal alignment. The problem is also called malocclusion of teeth.

“Due to eating of fast food and soft foods only, the jaw size of children is becoming smaller leaving little space for the growth of teeth. Earlier, people used to eat more of hard and fibrous food, which helped in exercise of jaws and hence stronger and bigger jaws,” she explained.

Dr Suman Gulab, Principal of the college, said the authorities organised such camps at regular intervals to help students get health-related tips.

Ved Prakash Gupta, in charge of women’s wing, Smriti Kamboj, in charge of women’s cell of the college, and several other teachers of the college were present.

Gurgaon, August 27
Sunil Dabas, Haryana’s first and India’s fourth woman coach selected for the coveted Dronacharya Award, has warned the young and upcoming players against getting lured by the temptation of using prohibited drugs to get undue advantage in their sports competitions.

Sunil, who is the chief coach of the Indian Women Kabaddi team, has been named for the prestigious Dronacharya Award-2012. She will be honoured with the award by the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on August 29.

Talking to The Tribune here today, Sunil asserted that there was no shortcut to success and hard work, patience and perseverance were the keys to success.

Sunil belongs to Mohammedpur Majra village in Jhajjar district of the state and is presently serving as assistant professor and HoD of physical education at Dronacharya Government Postgraduate College, Gurgaon.

She comes from a family of sportspersons, primarily kabaddi players. Her father Attar Singh as well as sisters Sulochana and Rajesh and brothers Balraj and Rakesh are also avid players of kabaddi and other sports.

However, despite her family support and encouragement, Sunil did not get proper coaching facilities at an early stage, which prompted her to become a coach herself.

Significantly, the team coached by her has won six gold medals in reputed international events, including the Asian Games-2010 and the World Cup-2012.

“Though there is much more and better exposure, facilities and recognition in the field of sports today as compared to the past, we still need to change our mindset, especially regarding letting our girls participate in sporting events,” she said.

Sunil said blessings of the Almighty, besides the firm support of her husband Vivek and mother-in-law, were behind her success.

Sunil has several research publications to her credit and has also submitted her PhD thesis on psycho-physical abilities of Indian female players.

A gold medallist in MA (physical education) herself, she has also participated in several national and international seminars on sports and physical education and presented her research papers there.

Hisar, August 27
The district police has established a ‘police telecalling centre cell’ at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) here, to provide an interface to complainants sending their grievances to the office.

SP Satish Balan said every complaint received by his office and referred to different police stations in the district for investigation would be returned by the Station House Officers (SHOs) to this cell. Telecallers would then contact the complainant to know if he or she was satisfied with the resolution of the complaint. The cell would then send the report to the SP who would take an appropriate decision if the complainant was not satisfied.

He said these reports would be submitted to him daily and it would help him know how many complaints received from the public had been duly dealt with, to the satisfaction of the complainant. He hoped that this would help bring transparency in the functioning of the police and also help improve the image of the police force.

Meanwhile, as part of toning up of police functioning, the SP has directed all policemen to come to their offices in uniform. It had been noticed that several policemen in his office were not in uniform while on duty. It became difficult for the people visiting the office to know who they had to deal with.

Rohtak, August 26
Doctors of the Post Graduate Institute of Dental Sciences (PGIDS) here have successfully removed jaw tumour of a young patient after a 7-hour long surgery.

This is perhaps one of the most complex surgeries conducted at PGIDS, Rohtak, after it was upgraded to a PG institute in 2009.

The tumour identified as “Schwannoma”, a benign nerve sheath tumor, is relatively rare in occurrence and even rarer in sites such as jaw bones. It leads to swelling of jaw bones and blocking of other nerves emanating from the brain,” claimed Dr Virender Singh, Professor and Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of PGIDS, who operated upon the patient identified as Krishan Kumar, a resident of Jhajjar town.

He said Krishan(20) had complained of pain and swelling in the jaw bone on the left side of his face. The swelling had been so acute that the patient had lost hearing capacity of his left ear and the pain had been causing frequent headaches to the victim. According to Dr Virender, the tumour could prove fatal for the patient. The patient who was admitted to PGIDS last month was operated upon by a team of doctors consisting of Dr Ishwar Singh, head of Nuerology and Dr Mamta, anesthesiologist, besides Dr Singh.

The patient was likely to be discharged soon, the doctors said. According to Dr Sanjay Tiwari, Principal of PGIDS, it was perhaps the first time that a jaw tumour weighing about 80 gms had been removed.

Vice- Chancellor of the Pt BD Sharma Health University, Dr SS Sangwan, has congratulated the doctors’ team for the successful surgery.

Students participate in 21 ‘kundia havan’ organised by the DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar, to mark the commencement of the new academic
session. A Tribune photograph

Yamunanagar, August 27
The local DAV College for Girls inaugurated the new academic session by organising a 21 ‘kundia havan’ in which Pandit Dev Vrat Acharya from Kurukshetra performed the yajna for the success and well being of the new students.

The Acharya said the main objective of the havan was to promote a spirit of sacrifice for the benefit of all among the students.

The programme was organised under the chairmanship of Principal Sushma Arya, who while speaking on the occasion welcomed the students and blessed them for a bright future.

Later, a freshers’ party was organised for the new undergraduate and post-graduate students, in which all newcomers dressed according to the retro dress code. Various competitions were organised during the party.

The convener of Eco Club and DAV Phulwari organised a drive for recycling waste paper and planting 45 trees. As many as 35 students and 10 teachers undertook the responsibility of nurturing these trees.

Sirsa, August 27
The Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal (JCD) Institute of Business Management recently organised a talent hunt competition on the campus of JCD Vidyapeeth to explore the hidden talent among its students pursuing BBA and MBA courses.

Various cultural and co-curricular items like creative writing, solo dance competition, group dance, declamation contest and standup comedy were organised to make students highlight their talents.

Giving details of various events, Dr Kuldeep Singh, principal of the institute, said the purpose of these events was to offer a platform to the students where they could show their talent and artistic skills.

Dr Shamim Sharma, Managing Director, JCD Vidyapeeth, was the chief guest on the occasion and she started the programme by lighting the ceremonial lamp.

“Our students are multi talented and the institute needs to find out their hidden talent and such programmes provide suitable platform to exhibit their talent,” she said. The event kick started with an icebreaker, a skit on the burning social issue of female foeticide by Mukesh Rani and Kiran Bala.

Group dances, solo songs, solo dances and standup comedy followed the skit. Bhangra by little empires of BBA 3rd year won the first prize in group dance category. Anshul Sachdeva and Mukesh Rani were the winners in solo dance competition. Jaskirat Kaur gave a melodious performance on ‘Buhe Baariyan’, a sufi song, and won the first prize, Ravi Dhawan was awarded second position for ‘Naina Lagiyan Baarishan’.

Shivam Rangbulla stood tall in creative writing competition. Aasa Singh topped in declamation competition. Barinder Singh made audience laugh and grab the first position in standup comedy. A skit, ‘Kamlayan da tolla’, was awarded the best item. Naveen, Ahal and Jatin was the winner of business quiz.

Dr Rajender Kumar, reader of the JCD College of Education, and Kanta Rohilla, lecturer in the JCD Polytechnic, constituted the jury.

Dr NS Bhal, chief coordinator, JCDM College of Engineering and principals of all constituent colleges of JCD Vidyapeeth, were present during the programme.

Kurukshetra, August 27
A new computerised enquiry office was inaugurated by Lt-Gen (Dr) DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, on the university campus here.

Dr Sandhu said, “The enquiry office has been equipped with computers, intercom and a landline telephone and three officials well conversant with the working of the examination wing have been posted in the enquiry office.”

He said the purpose of setting up a separate enquiry office was to extend proper guidance to the candidates and attend to their queries relating to results. With the setting up of the enquiry office, the entry of students to the Examination Wing stood restricted as they had to obtain a proper authorisation slip from the enquiry counter in case the enquiry office felt the need.

The landline telephone number of the enquiry office is 01744-239170 which shall remain functional from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on all working days, he added.

Sonepat, August 27
Medical profession is an area of social service and it is imperative for doctors to have a serving attitude while discharging their duties. In the eyes of a patient, a doctor is like an angel and doctors should not forget it.

This was stated by Dr RC Siwach, director of Bhagat Phool Singh (BPS) Government Medical College, Khanpur Kalan, while delivering his keynote address on the subject, ‘Professionalism in Medical Science’, at a seminar organised by the MSM Institute of Ayurveda here recently.

He threw light on the history of professionalism in medical science through powerpoint presentations and said doctors should discharge their responsibilities with full dedication and professional attitude.

Dr Siwach also acquainted the students with the changing amplitudes and rules of professionalism in the medical science and exhorted them to work with honesty, dedication, serving attitude and transparency for the service of the mankind. Dr Vijay Kaushik, dean of Ayurveda College, Dr Mahesh Dadheech, dean-students’ welfare and Dr Naresh Kumar also addressed the students.

Hisar, August 27
Ramesh Leekha, member of the Pharmacy Council of India and a senior vice-president of the local Arya Samaj, has been appointed secretary of All-India DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi.

The committee runs more than 700 educational institutions. Though of late, the committee has attracted widespread criticism for its manner of functioning, there is no denying the fact that in the past, it helped provide educational facilities in the country.

Leekha said the establishment of DAV University was a milestone in the history of the DAV movement. He said plans were afoot to take several institutions to new heights.

Kurukshetra, August 27
A meeting of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Kurukshetra University was held under the chairmanship of Lt-Gen (Dr) DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, in the university committee room, here recently.

The committee discussed in detail the “revised vision” and mission of the university and it will now be placed for final approval of the executive council of the university.

“The university plans to raise its standards of education and research to a much higher level in the years to come. We are already an ‘A’ grade university as assessed by the National Assessment and Accreditation Committee (NAAC) but there is a need to revise and redefine our vision and mission in consonance with the future needs of the learners and society,” Dr Sandhu said.

The IQAC also discussed important issues relating to improving the existing infrastructure by building more smart classrooms, world-class research laboratories, a centralised research facility, enhancement of communication skills of students across the board, online applications for admissions, conduct of examinations and declaration of results in time, accountability in re-evaluation system, raising of grants from outside agencies and optimal utilisation of grants in time, improving standards of research programme, regular conduct of conferences and seminars and frequent meetings of different stakeholders of the university.

“The university has already addressed all these issues but there is a need to make things move at a quicker pace to improve the implementation and delivery of the semester system, improving standards of research and for better placements of the students,” Dr Sandhu added.

The workshop started with a welcome note by Prof Reicha Tanwar, director, Women’s Studies Research Centre. She gave a brief description of basic demographic indicators as revealed by the Census 2011.

In his inaugural address, Dr Sandhu said it was widely known that sex ratio was a powerful indicator of the social health of any society. It conveyed a great deal about the state of gender relations. Socially as well as economically, advanced societies had a balanced sex ratio. But for many south and south-east Asian countries, neither education nor development has brought about any significant change in their attitude towards women.

“In such a scenario, the role of educational institutions especially colleges and universities is of great significance. We can together involve our teaching faculty as well as students in our institutions as harbingers of social change in our regular programmes as well as outreach, extension and field work. To ‘Save the Girl Child’ should be our prime aim. It is in this context that such workshops have an important role to play,” Dr Sandhu added.

Delivering the keynote address, Prof Usha Nayar said an adverse and a declining child sex ratio had been an area of national concern in the past two decades, on account of the gravity of the problem and the far-reaching implications of it, which are more and more noticeable.

After the inaugural session, a panel discussion was held on ‘Save the Girl Child’ in which professors and intellectuals from all over the region participated. The discussion was coordinated by Prof Tanwar.

After the discussions, a nukkad natak, ‘Ek Nai Shuruaat’, was enacted by the artistes of Jan Natya Manch. In the afternoon session, ‘Sensitisation and Awareness’ session was held in which Prof Suman Gupta, Dr Bijayalaxmi Nanda, Sunil Jalglan and Ritu Jaglan spoke about various issues concerning female foeticide. Suggestions from the participants were also taken for inclusion in the campaign.

All the university teaching departments and affiliated colleges of Kurukshetra University in Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Karnal districts of Haryana participated in the campaign to raise awareness on the issue in their respective institutions and sensitise society at large.

Ambala, August 27
The Haryana Wakf Board (HWB) has registered an all-time high income of Rs 22.44 crore during the revenue year 2011-12, which is Rs 5.30 crore (31 per cent) more than the income of the previous year.

Revealing this, administrator of the board Naseem Ahmad said during the past three years, the income of the board had increased more than two times. During 2011-12, the board had spent Rs 10.09 crore on various educational and welfare activities, including an expenditure of Rs 5.46 crore incurred on building infrastructure for Mewat Engineering College, which was the flagship of the board for promoting quality education among the Muslim children of Haryana.

Ahmad said the board was running an engineering college in Palla village, in Mewat district, since 2009-10 and two schools for the lower sections of society at Ambala and Panipat. At present, there were 529 students undertaking engineering courses in five streams up to third year at the college and 800 students are getting educated in the two schools. These institutions are open to all communities of society, he said.

While presiding over the Ninth annual general meeting of the board, Ahmad congratulated the officers and other staff members of the board for their commendable work on all fronts.

Ahmad said at the time of formation of Haryana Wakf Board in 2003-04, its revenue was only Rs 4.96 crore. In seven years, the income of the board had increased to Rs 22.44 crore. He added that the board had made steady progress over the years.

Ahmad said the board generated its own income from the wakf properties and the income derived was spent on various schemes for the benefit of the minority. The only area which still defies solution was encroachment on wakf properties.

The chief guest of the annual general meeting was Ch Jaleb Khan, chief parliamentary secretary (Wakf) of the state government, who, while addressing the gathering, praised the board for its interventions for the betterment of the minority community. He said he would take up the issue of removal of encroachments from wakf properties with the state government. He also assured the board for a suitable grant-in-aid for Mewat Engineering College from the government.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the board, Dr Parvez Ahmad, presented the Annual Report for 2011-12 highlighting various activities of the board. He said spreading education amongst the minority community had been the prime objective of the board. He said during 2011-12, the board had distributed merit scholarships worth Rs 51.56 lakh to 892 students. During 2011-12, the board spent Rs 1.62 crore on the honorariums of 310 Imams, Muazzins and caretakers.

He expressed satisfaction on the move of the government to notify Wakf Rules-2012 in conformity with the Wakf Act of 1995. Besides, the CEO also hailed the decision of the government to bring Wakf properties within the ambit of Public Premises Act for removal of encroachments.

Kurukshetra, August 27
Lieut-Gen DDS Sandhu (retd), Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, performed the bhoomi poojan of a world-class research centre for an ‘ion-induced growth and engineering of materials project’, worth Rs 9 crore, on the university’s campus here recently. This specially designed two-storied building with covered area of about 5,000 sq ft on each floor will cost Rs 162.85 lakh. “This national facility at Kurukshetra University will be the first of its kind in India, said Dr Sandhu.

He said that once installed, the low-energy ion accelerator would work as a central facility and users would be allowed to undertake a wide variety of research in various disciplines. Moreover, due to its usefulness for technological applications, it would be ideally suited for students’ training and would provide them a broad spectrum of basic and applied skills that would be required in their future work environment in the industry.

Dr Sanjeev Aggarwal, principal investigator of the project, said, “This facility aims to promote and facilitate world-class research in the field of ion-beam applications for the Indian academic and the industrial communities. Ion beam-induced materials and growth technology is at the forefront of this revolution because modified surfaces of materials dictate many of their important properties which are usually not found in traditional materials”.

Jhajjar, August 27
Sourabh Sharma of Sonepat clinched the title of State Junior Badminton Champion by defeating Kartik of Panchkula in a close match of Haryana State Junior Badminton Championship at Jahan Aara Stadium here on Sunday.

Ajay Singhaniya, general secretary of the Haryana Badminton Association, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. He gave away prizes to the winners.

Addressing the budding players on the occasion, Singhaniya said victory and defeat were part and parcel of any game. So those who lost their matches need not be dejected.

Describing the significance of games, he said games not only inculcate the feeling of healthy competition among the players, but also inspire them to follow a disciplined life. Besides these, games also make a person physically and mentally strong.

Calling upon the students to toil hard with devotion for polishing their sports talent, Singhaniya said, “Like other professional fields, students can now make their carrier in sports as well because the Centre as well as state governments are at present not only showering the international players with huge cash rewards, but also offering them attractive jobs in various government departments.”

Singhniya said the badminton association was making serious efforts for the promotion of badminton in Haryana. “Budding players are being groomed and being given a chance to show their talent in various competitions in a bid to give them exposure and practical experience for polishing their talent. That is the reason why talent is emerging even from rustic areas of the state.”

Manjeet Singh, senior vice-president of the association, said that hundreds of players from 19 districts of the state participated in the four-day-long tournament and displayed their talent. SDM Pradeep Dagar, DFSO Ashok Rawat, Sanjay Sharma and officer-bearers were also present at the closing ceremony of the tournament.

Sonepat, August 27
As many as 277 units of blood were donated by police personnel and other volunteers in a blood donation camp organised jointly by the Sonepat police and the District Red Cross Society here in the Police Lines on Monday. SSP Arun Singh, DSP Balbir Singh and a journalist, Dr Parvesh Gahlot, were among the blood donors.

While inaugurating the camp, the Inspector-General (IG) of the Rohtak police range, Alok Mittal, said that generally 92,000 units of blood were being collected every year against the requirement of 120 lakh units in the country. This deficiency of 28 lakh units could prove fatal for needy patients, he added.

He congratulated the police personnel for the initiative and said they had performed their social duty by donating blood voluntarily. He also appreciated the traffic police in charge at Gohana, Vikram Singh, for his 21st time donation of blood in the camp.

The secretary of the society, Saroj Bala, said like the police personnel, officials of other departments should also take the initiative for blood donation, one of the noblest contributions in the service of mankind.

The Deputy Commissioner, Pankaj Aggarwal, SDM Jag Niwas, CMO Suresh Chander and other officers were also present on the occasion.

Fatehabad, August 27
Jaibir Singh Virk, a lawyer from Tohana town in Fatehabad, recently completed a reverse drive journey of 273 km on a tractor to enter his name in the Limca Book of Records. Virk started from Nehru Market, Tohana, at 4.30 pm on August 25, where District Congress Committee president Randhir Singh flagged off the tractor for his journey in the ‘reverse gear’. Virk’s journey had the theme- ‘Make India Free from Corruption’.

The event passed through Moonak, Patran, Samana, Patiala, Pehowa, Kaithal, Narwana, Uklana Chowk and returned to Tohana on August 26 at 7.15 am.

“It was a nonstop journey for 14 hours and 45 minutes during which I covered 273 km against my target of covering 260 km,” Virk said.

The event was video filmed and a gazetted officer, Mukesh Sharma, accompanied him during the entire journey as observer for the Limca Book of Records, he claimed.

As he had to drive backwards throughout his journey, a pilot jeep drove ahead of him to make the road clear for him. This also helped him to avoid mishaps. The tractor was driven as a maximum speed of 20 km per hour. He said he would send the observer’s report as well as the video footage of the journey to the Limca Book of Records for certification.

Earlier in May this year, Virk along with two others, Amit Chaudhary, a naturopath and Himanshu Khagta, a freelance travel photographer, covered a journey of 3,623 km of the Himalayas on a tractor. The expedition, meant to draw people’s attention towards menace of female foeticide, started from Baddi on May 23.

Chandigarh, August 27
The Haryana Government has implemented a Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) in 18 blocks of 17 districts of the state for 2012-13. The scheme covers both Kharif and Rabi crops like wheat, paddy, bajra and cotton.

While stating this here, a spokesman of the Agriculture Department said the blocks in which WBCIS had been implemented for paddy crops during Kharif 2012-13 included Ambala-II, Gohana, Bilaspur, Palwal, Babain, Beri, Barwala, Tohana and Jakhal, Sirsa, Madlouda, Narnaund and Ballabgarh, whereas the scheme had been implemented for cotton crop in the Bawanikhera block of Bhiwani district.

The bajra crop is covered under the scheme in blocks of Mahendergarh, Bawal, Taoru and Farukhnagar, he added.

He said the farmers would have to pay only Rs 300, Rs 297.50 and Rs 600 per acre for paddy, bajra and cotton crops respectively as premium under the scheme and the rest of the amount of the premium that is Rs 450, Rs 276.25 and Rs 300, would be shared equally by the state and the Central governments.

The spokesman said the scheme was being implemented by Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited and other private companies approved by the Government of India. The total claims paid to the affected farmers from Rabi 2009-10 to Kharif 2011-12 amounted to Rs 13.18 crore, benefitting 19,157 farmers. The average claim per farmer stood at Rs 6,880. All the farmers of above-mentioned blocks could avail WBCIS. A notification to this effect had already been issued, he added.

Sirsa, August 27
In the present era of knowledge, a person having skills can make a good living in the area of his or her specialisation without considering the field in which he has acquired academic degrees. Puja Bansal, a homemaker from Sirsa town, has used her culinary skills to carve a niche for herself and has been earning handsome returns through her specialisation. Though Puja studied commerce at the college level, eventually it was her acumen in the art of cooking, her passion since childhood, that helped her stand on her own two feet and supplemented her family income. Today, she is working as a cooking instructor in the Home Science Department of Mata Harki Devi College for Women at Odhan in Sirsa, runs her own cooking institute “Talent Heights” from her home, supplies special dishes to hostels in some local colleges and executes orders of event management in small parties.

Daughter of a medical practitioner from Fatehabad town, Puja, now 33, was married to a property consultant in Sirsa, in her early teens.

“Cooking delicious food was a passion for me since my early days, when I used to learn the culinary art from my mother. Gradually, I started learning to cook different varieties of food from wherever it was possible. Today, I can cook Indian, Chinese, Continental, Mexican, Thai and several other foods,” Puja says while teaching culinary skills to girls from the Odhan college.

In her Talent Heights Cooking Institute in Sirsa, women from the age of 18 to 50 years come and learn the art of cookery. “A large majority of girls are those nearing their marriageable age, particularly those who have been engaged,” she says. “The transformation of my childhood hobby into a full-time profession is quite satisfying because besides keeping myself busy, it provides me handsome returns in the shape of an income,” she adds.

When asked how much does she earn from this profession, Puja says that one can earn anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh per month and adds with a smile that her own income is also between these figures.

Kalka, August 27
As many as 125 units of blood were collected in a blood donation camp organised jointly by Rotary Club, Pinjore, and Government Postgraduate College, Kalka, on the college premises.

Bipin Bogra, president of the Rotary Club, said the members of the club, staff and students of the college donated blood in the camp, which was presided over by Manita Malik, SDM, Kalka. Himanshu Khosla, project manager of the camp, expressed his gratitude towards Harvinder Sharma, the Principal of the college, for organising the camp on the college campus.

Panipat, August 27
An RTI activist, who has been denied information about a case from the Sonepat Police, has accused the Information Commissioner of suppressing flow of information under the provisions of the RTI Act and reversing the judgments of former Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) G Madhwan.

Kapoor said former bureaucrats appointed as Information Commissioners were making a ‘mockery’ of the RTI Act and acting as a ‘barrier in denying information’ which was the right granted to the people under the Act.

RTI activist PP Kapoor had sought information about the action taken by the police in case of FIR no 316 registered at the Ganaur police station registered on September 11, 1998, and also sought copies of case diary, ‘Jimini’, and enquiry reports, but the same were denied by the police on the pretext that the case was 14 years old.

The SP, Sonepat, refused to part with the information and cited Section 8-1 (G) of the RTI Act and Section 172 of CrPC to deny the information. An appeal was filed with the then IG, Rohtak Range, Alok Mittal, who was the appellate authority under the Act, but to no avail.

Kapoor filed an appeal with the state Information Commission under Section 19(3) of the RTI Act. He said, “The SP, Sonepat, had denied information quoting wrong Sections and said the case was not pending in the court and all the accused were in jail”.

He said there was no justification in not providing the case diary, ‘Jiminy’, and probe reports and sought the intervention of the Information Commissioner. The Commissioner, who heard appeal no 2412/2012 on July 6 last, ‘accepted’ the plea of the police and did not help in getting the information.

Asserting that the order of the Information Commissioner was not justified, Kapoor said former CIC G Madhvan had, in his order in appeal no. 1008/2007 in a case registered in Faridabad, directed the SP, Faridabad, to provide copies of enquiry report, case diary, ‘Jimini’ and challan put up by the police. Madhwan had said the RTI Act was clear in this regard and superseded the provisions of all other Acts in this context. In another similar case (0124/2009), Madhawan passed orders on July 8, 2009, directing the SP, Jind, to provide the copies of case diary and ‘Jimini’ to the applicant.

Rewari, August 27
Distinguished citizens with a nationalistic bent of mind participated at a conference held under the auspices of the Assam Bachao Sangharsh Samiti at Punjabi Dharamshala here recently.

Expressing concern at the unabated massacre of the Hindus in certain parts of Assam, Ram Kishan Sharma, the main speaker of the conference, said it reminded them of the carnage of the Hindus in Pakistan in the wake of the Partition in 1947.

Further, while holding Bangladeshi infiltrators, now settled in Assam, responsible for such a large-scale slaughter of the Hindus in Assam, he alleged that in stead of providing security and justice to the victims, the Gogoi government was doing things which conformed to its vote-bank politics.

“Following the same pattern, the Congress-led UPA Government too, in stead of rehabilitating the countless Hindus migrating here from Pakistan in miserable circumstances, was engaged in providing relief and shelter to millions of Bangladeshi infiltrators for obvious reasons,” he alleged.

Kurukshetra, August 27
The projector at a planetarium, set up in Kurukshetra in the memory of the first Indian woman astronaut, Dr Kalpana Chawla, is not working for some time. The officials working here had sent an application to higher authorities in Panchkula, but no action has been taken as yet.

"The planetarium has a 12-metre dome with a seating capacity of 120 persons. It is equipped with state-of-the-art digital and opto-mechanical projectors, which are not working for the past one and a half months. The digital projector, fitted with a fish-eye lens, gives the full projection of the dome, which looks realistic. On the other hand, the opto-mechanical projector gives an amazing view of the night sky and shows various constellations, stars and planets of the night sky. Using these projectors, one can view the sky of future and past nights and the arrangements of stars and other cosmic objects at that time," said a source.

He said the main attractions of the planetarium were its shows, astropark and science exhibits. At present, no show was being run as the projector was not working. People were going back disappointed. When the projector was working, there were two shows for the public. One was "Kalpana ka Swapan-Sitaron ki Duniya", which was a half-an-hour show about Dr Kalpana Chawla and it also showed glimpses of the night sky and cosmic objects in the space. Another half-an-hour show named "Oasis in space" was about the solar system, its formation and characteristics of different planets.

“We came here from Panipat to see the planetarium. It is beautifully constructed but the projector is not working, so we missed the shows. We were really disappointed.,” said Naveen, a visitor from Panipat. “The application was received and it is in the process. Every process takes time,” said Vishal Gulia, Department of Science and Technology, Panchkula.